What the Video Interviewer Really Wants

Insider view for candidates on what the interviewer is really looking at in video interviews based on findings from more than twenty in-depth interviews and an online survey of 100+ Sonru users from over 40 client companies.

‘Seeing Candidates’ is the key benefit of video interviewing When asked of the primary benefit of using Sonru, a myriad of responses along the theme of ‘Efficient and Effective Screening’ i.e. ‘Seeing Candidates’ was selected by almost half of the respondents.

“You can get a real feel for a person – it’s an opportunity to make their CV and application form come alive and display their knowledge and experience in your industry sector. ”

Insider Tip #1: If you’ve got it flaunt it – don’t be shy on sharing your passion, knowledge and experience with the camera.

Overall Performance 80% of respondents selected overall performance adding comments such as “Initial impact and influence, confidence,” and “their personality, their presentability, their attitude, their demeanour,” and “handling of stress.”

Insider Tip #2: Take the Interview seriously – prepare both mentally and physically (dress as if you were attending a face-to-face interview). Look at the camera (eye contact is great), speak clearly and most importantly take as many practice interviews as you need to become familiar with the process.

Testing: Languages & Technical Over one third of clients interviewed assessed candidates on their language proficiency while over one quarter used Sonru to assess technical know-how.

“It can be difficult to ascertain the depth of technical experience that a candidate has from a CV alone. By conducting technical interviews we were able to bring candidates of a certain technical competence forward for interview.” “Ability to quickly identify prospective talent through targeted technical questions. ”

“Sonru is excellent for assessing the English literacy and fluency of applicants of the Multilingual roles.”

Insider Tip #3: If it’s a technical role, expect some technical questions. Don’t worry – if you know your subject, you’ll shine. Sonru is multilingual so you might be asked questions in a variety of languages. Every candidate should expect some form of competency based questions.

Over one third of respondents assessed candidates based on culture fit and personality yet 55.6% of respondents answered Yes to ‘When selecting who to hire from your final shortlist, is ‘culture fit’ the key factor?’ This suggests a case for more culture fit assessment in the earlier stages of the recruitment process.

Insider Tip #4: Be yourself!

If you’ve been invited to complete an online video interview, visit the Candidate Information Sheet for more information and to see what you need to get started.